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Passengers disgruntled with flight delays at American Airlines

More than 200 American Airlines pilots march on a picket line at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago on Sept. 20 after a federal appeals court ruled against American. The labor strife has hung over the airline in recent months. (M. Spencer Green, The Associated Press)

Blogs, tweets and water-cooler discussions are filled with passenger complaints of seemingly routine trips that ended up taking far longer than scheduled.

The carrier's on-time performance has plummeted over the past two weeks. American said some pilots were conducting an illegal work slowdown that was causing delayed and canceled flights. The union says there was no sickout or slowdown.

American Airlines has temporarily grounded eight planes to evaluate them after seats came loose on three recent flights, prompting a federal probe. (Reuters file)

"I'm worried about the company," said aviation analyst Robert Mann of Port Washington, N.Y.-based R.W. Mann & Co. "What's happening is the result of more than a decade of increasing rancor between management and front-line workers."

The airline has been operating under bankruptcy protection since November as it attempts to reorganize. Pilots rejected American's last contract offer in August. Last month, a federal bankruptcy judge gave American parent AMR Corp. permission to throw out the pilots' contract and impose terms for pay, benefits and work rules.

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The situation may sound familiar to Denver travelers. In the summer of 2000, United Airlines pilots staged a slowdown that severely disrupted operations in Colorado and globally, angering customers and helping propel the carrier toward bankruptcy.

Mike O'Sullivan of Olympia, Wash., said a recent business trip he took to Washington, D.C., on American had lengthy delays on both the outbound and return legs because of aircraft mechanical problems announced shortly before takeoff.

He missed meetings in D.C., then was forced to spend the night in Dallas-Forth Worth on the return trip.

"First thing I did (after returning)? Removed American Air from my work traveler's profile," O'Sullivan said in an e-mail. "(I) will pay more and take longer flights if that is what's needed to avoid using American Airlines ever again."

Mann said a risk exists of a widescale exodus of business and leisure travelers from American to competing airlines.

American is the nation's third-largest airline, but a relatively small player at Denver International Airport. Its 3 percent market share in Denver makes it the fifth-largest at DIA — behind United, Southwest, Frontier and Delta.

"We are committed to working with the APA, and we're pleased that we have resumed negotiations. We will work collaboratively and creatively with the APA to find a solution that works for the pilots and allows for a successful restructuring of the airline," airline spokesman Bruce Hicks said in a statement.

Mann said the labor strife may finally be resolved if American and US Airways are able to negotiate a long-rumored merger. American's pilots already have agreed to a conditional labor contract with US Airways if the merger takes place.

Making matters worse for American, this week there were multiple reports of rows of seats coming loose in some of its aircraft. Company officials said the problems were unrelated to labor issues.

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